Most police vehicles, security vehicles, and medical emergency vehicles are provided with various lighting devices and roadway markers for effecting directional control of traffic when a roadway emergency arises. These safety devices typically are in the form of highly visible reflective markers that are made easily visible by the reflection of the light from the headlamps of typical automotive vehicles. Such emergency vehicles are also typically provided with one or more flashlights that are used by official personnel as needed. Such flashlights can be employed for directing traffic, but typically require the employment of personnel for directional control of traffic. Other emergency traffic lighting may be provided by flares, such as bright red emergency marker flares. Marker flares will typically burn only for a period of from 10 to 15 minutes and must be replaced if traffic control is to be extended for any significant period of time. Obviously, with flares and other such marker lighting systems, the directional control of highway traffic is difficult to maintain. For this reason, highway emergency flares are typically utilized in conjunction with traffic control officers to ensure that effective traffic control is being maintained under emergency conditions. It is desirable, therefore, to provide an emergency warning light system that is readily visible to automotive vehicle drivers and which has the capability of accomplishing directional control of traffic as well without necessitating continuous control by traffic control officers.
In and around large cities, various emergency medical support (EMS) vehicles are provided such as ambulances, helicopters, etc. In order to guide EMS helicopters to the site of an emergency, especially during darkness or poor lighting conditions, various lights, such as flashlights, emergency flares, etc., are utilized to outline a landing area. As mentioned above, a number of officers or other personnel must be present to identify and secure the helicopter landing area in the event flashlights are employed. Also, in the event highly visible flares are employed to outline the helicopter landing area, these flares must be continuously replaced as they burn out so that the approaching helicopter can identify the landing area and make a safe descent to the landing zone. It is desirable to provide a warning light system having the capability of efficiently outlining a landing zone for EMS helicopters, wherein the light system is operative for a substantial period of time without requiring continuous attention by emergency personnel.
In the trucking industry and for private automobiles, is desired to provide an emergency lighting system that renders disabled trucks and automobiles highly visible even under conditions of poor light. Moreover, it is also desirable to provide a emergency light system that is completely portable and can be set up in a short period of time to ensure that oncoming traffic is directed around the disabled vehicle and any personnel that might be located near the disabled vehicle.